Meri Kerihimete!

Christmas in New Zealand is the typical Christmas depicted in movies. There is no snow (unless you go up to Mt Cook), there is no cozying up by the fireplace, no hot cocoa, glove or hats. It’s not cold here! We celebrate Christmas in summer which means the typical Kiwi Christmas goes a little something like this….

Christmas on the Beach is one of those Kiwi Christmas songs we used to sing in school when I was a kid. All I can ever remember are the words of the chorus which sum up what Christmas is like here in New Zealand.

“Christmas on the beach, Christmas on the beach. Pack your picnic hamper up we’re gonna have a feast! Underneath the huge Pohutakawa Tree. Christmas on the beach.”

So as you know I am celebrating The Spanish Bluebell’s 2nd Birthday this month. Now this has got me reminiscing over the last couple of years and has brought back up a few places I have wanderlusting to visit. I thought I would share a my top 8 of these places with you today and also give you a wee incentive to share your own wanderlust list with me! (Giveaway now CLOSED.)

Anyway lets do this!

Photo credit to Traveltipoffs

#1 Spain

Of course Spain is on the very top of my list. I have been yearning to return to Spain ever since leaving the country when I was 6 and a half. I haven’t been back at all since then and I would love to finally experience Spain as an adult. I love everything to do with Spain, I mean I even name my blog after it!

Photo credit to All World Towns

#2 Venice, Italy

Even though I would love to visit all of Italy, I have always had a bit of a fascination with Venice in particular. I love being around water whether at the beach or near a river so the winding canals of Venice have always been enticing. I’ve always wanted to go to one of their masquerades and festivals, plus I want to own one of their gorgeous masks!

Photo credit to J & J Blog

#3 Paris, France

How could I write a Wanderlust list and not include Paris!? The draw of Paris is rather obvious, as one of the most romantic and classy cities in the world. Everything about Paris fascinates me, the fashion, the language, the landmarks (yes I’m talking about you Eiffel Tower.)

Photo Credit to Joe Penniston (Flickr user)

#4 Disneyland

Okay so I know that Disneyland is neither a city, nor a country, but it just had to be on my list! I am a huge Disney fan and don’t think I will ever grow up when it comes to Disney. Disneyland has always been on my Wanderlust list as it just seems like such a magical place. Who knows when I’ll get to go there, whether it be in the next few years on when I have my own family. Either way I am excited to one day be able to explore Walt Disney’s world.

#5 Russia

Ever since watching Anastasia as a young girl, I have always wanted to visit Russia. I would love to travel on the trans-Siberian Railway as I just adore train travel. Plus the architecture is something so different to most Western European countries. I specifically asked my Year 12 history teacher if we could study the Russian Revolution because Russia just has such an intriguing history.

Photo credit to Unique Vacations

#6 Fiji

Who can resist the allure of a sunny beach, snorkelling, miniature ponies and welcoming people? Not me, that’s who. My best friend is half Fijian, so ever since we became friends Fiji has been on my list of places to visit.

London – Big ben and houses of parliament, UK

#7 London, England

Okay so I pretty much want to go everywhere in the United Kingdom, but London will always have a special draw for me. This has a lot to do with the fact that I am a huge Harry Potter fan. (If you are wondering what house I am in, I am a Hufflepuff.) Also another of my favourite Disney films is 101 Dalmatians, which is set in London. I want to ride on a Double Decker bus, visit Harry Potter World, see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye.

#8 New Zealand!

Last but not least, and probably the most unexpected of all in my own home country, New Zealand! Now you might think that it’s a bit crazy that New Zealand made my list, however how many of you have truly explored your own country? When putting pins in the places I have been to around New Zealand, my map looks pretty sparse. I already have a trip to Dunedin and Queenstown planned for my birthday (exciting!!!) but I still have so much more to see! Plus I have never been to Hobbiton, and as a newly recruited fan of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I want to visit it before I leave the country!

Giveaway CLOSED

So as I said in yesterday’s post, and hinted above, I have a wee incentive for you. Aelia Duty Free New Zealand and Webjet have each kindly provided me with a $50 Duty Free voucher for one of you lucky readers. (So that is one of 2 vouchers you could win!!) All you have to do is comment below which cities or countries are on your Wanderlust list, enter your details in the Rafflecopter app below and you are in to win!

Stereotypes are inevitable, so it isn’t surprising that a majority of people can be categorised into different “types of traveller”. Today I want to share with you a few of the traveller stereotypes and I want to know whether you fit into 1 or more of these stereotypes.

Cheap as Chips

The Cheap as chips traveller will always buy the cheapest flights, stay in the cheapest hostel or motel and tends to stick to using public transport. They may occasionally splurge out on some really delicious food or drink, or that special something you have been saving up to buy only in that country/overseas. This traveller will normally be seen with a backpack and some shoes that are comfy to walk in, as they will be doing a lot of it.

If you ever happen to be visiting Sydney I would definitely suggest a trips out to the Blue Mountains. Situated just 70 kilometres out of Sydney the Blue Mountains is the perfect place to visit for stunning views, a relaxing atmosphere and plenty of space for those with a it of adventure streak to explore.

Artwork in the tunnels of the Katoomba Railway Station, Blue Mountains

Rosana and I travelled from the Central Station in Sydney by train out to the Blue Mountains. We were definitely surprised at the comfort of the train trip as their long distance trains were decked out with enough room for our suitcases and comfortable chairs for the almost 2 hour trip.

As you have seen in my previous two Melbourne posts, I did a lot of travelling in the suburbs, but I also got to explore the central city quite a bit. However it is a lot easier to show you than to tell you so enjoy looking a the photos I have put together for you below.

The first thing that Rosana and I did in Melbourne was hit the Queen Victoria Market. We also went back to the for the Night Market on our last night which was an awesome experience with heaps of international foods to try, and little knickknacks and clothes to look at (and try not to buy).

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, during my first week in Melbourne, my Aunty and Uncle took me and Rosana out to Healesville Sanctuary. We had a lovely afternoon looking around the Sanctuary and getting to see all the Australian Wildlife. I took so many pictures and thought I would share a few with you today. But first let me tell you a little bit more about the Sanctuary.

Healesville Sanctuary is a part of Victoria State’s Zoos project. Situated on Badger Creek Road in Healesville you will go through some beautiful Australian vineyard and bush country to reach the Sanctuary.

Hello and welcome to the first post of my Melbourne Series! Today I’m here to give you a few tips for using the Melbourne PTV (Public Transport Victoria). I got quite used to using the Public Transport in Melbourne, in particular the trains and trams, as I was having to travel in and around the city as well as out in different suburbs all over the show.

#1 Most of all remember to tap on and tap off. Buses and trams have to tap on/off machine on board where as the ones at the train stations are where you enter/exit.

#2 Get a map from the airport of any of the big train stations of the train and tram network to keep on you. I found a lot of the time that we were referring a lot to the map when planning what we would do for the day and while we were out and about it was definitely a handy reference.

#3 Buy your myki card (like metrocard in Christchurch and hop cards in Auckland) at any train station and top up as your balance gets low. It is seriously so easy to get a myki card, you practically “buy” it from a vending machine.

Heya! As I hope you are aware by now, from my countless mentions in my January posts, I am currently in Sydney, Australia with one of my best friends from my Auckland school days. (Well actually at the moment I am getting ready to come home late tonight!). So while I am away I have lined up a few guest bloggers to share so awesome new things with you, with the occasional check in from me on my Social Media (see right sidebar). Today’s post is brought to you by Selene who blogs over at Everyday Selene about lifestyle, home design and Travel. Enjoy learning about Buenos Aires, her hometown! Sarah-Elizabeth xoxo

Do you like traveling? So do I. Well, I wish I could. You know, getting to know new places, new faces, new food…everything about discovering is just wonderful. Is Argentina in your top places to travel to? I read a lot of bloggers who are lucky enough to travel to many countries, but I’ve only seen one blogger who came to Argentina. It surprised me, in fact, as Argentina has beautiful places to visit. And (almost) especially in Buenos Aires. Today I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite places to visit as an Argentine born girl that I would definitely recommend to anyone who would like to know new places!.

The Center

Important buildings – such as the Teatro Colón (a must!), the Pink House, and others – are located around that area. One of the most important avenues is placed there, and just a few blocks away from there, there is also another important place of Buenos Aires (that I will mention later).

Heya! As I hope you are aware by now, from my countless mentions in my January posts, I am currently in Melbourne, Australia (heading to Sydney) with one of my best friends from my Auckland school days. (Well actually at the moment I am on a plane flying to Sydney). So while I am away I have lined up a few guest bloggers to share so awesome new things with you, with the occasional check in from me on my Social Media (see right sidebar).

Today’s post is brought to you by Natasha who blogs over at Sweet Mama M about parenting, food and exploring the world. Her and her husband travelled frequently before their infant son arrived and they’re looking forward to getting back into it this year, introducing little CJ to the joys of plane travel.

By the time you read this, I will have just arrived back from my first solo flight since becoming a mother! Friends were getting married in Perth and given the fleeting time that we would be there, as well as our other travel plans for this year, we decided that I’d pop over quickly on my own and the big and little dudes will have time together. I took this last opportunity to travel ultra-light (especially as part of my journey will involve hitching a ride with friends down the Western Australia coast) – I know that when we first travel with CJ we’ll be maxing out everybody’s baggage allowance! So without further adieu, here we go!

First of all, no plane journey is complete without reading material. Yes, that is a magazine from Nov/Dec last year – welcome to the wonderful world of parenting where sitting down and reading a magazine cover to cover is a luxury. Next to this is my faithful iPad, most often seen in our bedroom as I read to wind down while my husband slumbers away next to me – it’s like he doesn’t even have thoughts!

With my impending trip to Australia next month, and the stress of last minute organisation of all my travel documents and tickets, I felt like I needed to do a little something fun on the blog. Luckily, Genie from Bunny Eats Design had a great suggestion. She put out a call in the #brunchclub Facebook community to participate in the Wanderlust Tag and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time! So I have answered the questions for you below and have also included the link for the other blogs who participated in the collaboration!

Where was your first plane to?

My very first plane trip would have been from Madrid to Sydney then Christchurch. This was some time after my brother John was born. We would have been visiting my grandma and my dad’s family in Sydney and then my mums family in Christchurch.

I have a lot of Wanderlust in my heart. It probably has something to do with growing up in a different country and moving around quite a bit when I was younger. I like to plan out dream trips in my head, or even on paper, a lot. That’s why today’s prompt is 5 places I would like to visit in 2015.

1. Melbourne

I’ve already got plans to book my ticket to Melbourne for February next year with one of my awesome friends from Auckland. I’ve been to Melbourne once before when I was younger but it will be awesome to wander around the shops and markets with a friend to share our experiences together.

Ever since I was a young girl Egypt has always been alluring to me. This probably has something to do with the fact that my mum used to show me movies like The Prince of Egypt and when I was older, Indiana Jones: The Raiders of the Lost Ark. The thought of travelling to any country that has a very rich culture and old history just gets my wanderlust senses all excited! You put the word “Ancient” in front of a country and I will definitely want to travel there. Whether that is Ancient Greece, Rome, China, or Egypt, I am so there!

Experiencing Egypt….

and all that it has to offer is definitely high on my travel dream list. So today I have decided to share with you little list of how I am planning on doing that someday.

Thought: Funnily enough as I write this post I am watching a new TV Drama based in Cairo, Egypt called The ANZAC Girls.

Why are you lucky you may ask? Well Even though I am currently on a weeks vacation (which I announced on Social Media) I couldn’t resist writing a post about the most wonderful pampering experience that I had today. I have had a pretty busy and full on week so far, meeting my goddaughter, travelling from Christchurch to Auckland to Hamilton and back again to Auckland.

I hadn’t had too much down time to relax but I was lucky enough to be invited for a facial treatment at Interlude Day Spa today. Interlude is situated in the small town of Waiuku, South Auckland (my old hometown).

Take an “Interlude” from your hectic schedule with Interlude Day Spa…

*The creation of this post has been sponsored by Oasis Collections. This means there are links to luxury accommodations in South America. To find out more about Oasis Collections visit www.oasiscollections.com*

And do you happen to remember that i partnered with Oasis Collections to show you some awesome Luxury Accommodation you can stay in while Travelling through South America? In the gallery below are just a few of my favourite picks for places to stay with Oasis Collections in South America! If you want to remember what Oasis Collection is all about just flick back to my Latin America Summer Travel Dream post from last month!

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Well luckily for you Oasis Collections have decided to provide all of you, my fabulous readers, with a reader Special of $250 off your accommodation with Oasis Collections!! How exciting is that!?!

All you have to do is mention the code “HOLIDAYHEAT” when you book your accommodation with Oasis Collectionsfor travelling in South America! Just make sure you book before November 30th!!

Whether you are travelling to South America or you already live there and want a holiday make sure you take advantage of this offer as Oasis have some of the most amazing accommodation you could ever stay in! Also if you happen to know of anyone else you happens to be travelling to South America make sure you share this post with them so they can get in on a bit of the luxury that Oasis Collections offer!

If you aren’t travelling any time soon why not still go on over and check out Oasis Collections. Then link me below in the comments which would be the country you would like to travel to and the Oasis Accommodation you wish you could stay in!

Love,

Sarah-Elizabeth

P.S Be aware that it is not long at all until I start on the Christmas train with my posts!! Looking forward to showing you some of the LUSH Christmas range and my Christmas Wishlist!

The embarking on of new endeavours and adventures is always and exciting yet scary thing.

Hello everyone!

Well it is the start of the new month, the second to last one of 2014, and my has the year been just flying by!! Spanish Month finished on Friday, rather fittingly, with me doing my Spanish exam for university. I hope you all enjoyed the theme of the month as I sure enjoyed writing things for you to read!

A couple of things have happened recently for me that I thought I would share with all you lovely people.

New Endeavours

Saturday has marked the start to my 101 things in 1001 days Challenge. I have seen quite a few of my awesome blogging friends start on the 101 things in 1001 days Challenge over the past few months. I am a bit late in starting out as I wanted the last day to be around my 22nd Birthday. Anyway I figured I would put all my list of things I want to complete on a page so both you and I can keep track of my progress there, rather than in a series of posts that you have to look over. Of course I will occasionally write post about how I came to be able to cross a number off my List, or how I am in the progress of completing it, and I will make sure to link them in as I go! I got the inspiration for the things in my list from things that I have wanted to do for a while, as well as my blogger friends Madicattt, Laura Laura Blog, Makeupper and Sweet Mamma M.

I would love to know if you too are participating in the 101 things in 1001 day challenge (even if you aren’t doing that exact number). If you to be a part of my link up at the end of this page, please send me an email to contact@childofponderings.com with your name, blog address, and the exact link for you post(s) or page.

Adventures

Saturday morning I rather excitedly woke up and got ready to go out into the city to meet up with some other Christchurch bloggers. I was about 5 minutes away from the place where I was going to be meeting up with them when I finally decided to recheck my calendar. I had sent out a few tweets to the lovely ladies I was to meet with no reply. After checking previous messages and my calender I realised that in the excitement I had gotten a bit ahead of myself and our meet up isn’t until next Saturday!!

Note: These are not set travel plans of mine. I may be writing as if they are but believe it or not, I am just a poor university student. Although I hope that you will all find some travel inspiration to visit South America during the Summer after reading this post. All views are, as always, my own. The creation of this post has been sponsored by Oasis Collections. This means there are links to luxury accommodations in South America.

To find out more about Oasis Collections visit www.oasiscollections.com

Hello Everyone!!

To all of you in New Zealand who have just finished school holidays and are starting back, well all I can say is good luck. I am so relieved to be finishing my year of university after the next couple of weeks, when my exams are over. I have already started dreaming about Summer. To all my readers on the other side of the world who are ploughing their way through the beginning of another year of studies good on ya and I admire your courage! I have been feeling quite a bit of wanderlust lately and as I haven’t talked to you very much about Latin America I thought today’s post could be about my Latin American Travel Wishlist. I’m going to let the photos do as much of the talking as possible because they are what have really inspired me for this trip.

Anyway my Passport is Packed, I have all my clothes in my suitcase for an awesome Summer ahead, but where should I go…?

Wouldn’t it be nice to spend Summer in Latin America…

Travel map of place to visit in South America

First up on my 12 stop journey would be…

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Rio de Janeiro has got to be one of the most colourful and vibrant cities in Latin America, even dare to say the world. Not only the city but the birds there are some of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen! I would love to be able to visit the Amazon Jungle just to be able to take photos of such incredible creatures.

Woohoo!!! *excited dance* Hello everyone! Today you are in for a very awesome read from a wonderful new blogging friend of mine Liz from Passport Packed! She is the second of my guest bloggers for Spanish Month and will be telling you a little bit about the life of a Kiwi expat in Spain. Enjoy reading!

I’m Liz a Kiwi expat living in Madrid, Spain.

I’ve been living here for just over a year now and I absolutely love it.

I teach English here , as an Auxiliar de Conversacion (Assistant English teacher) and also work part time for a Food Tour company as a communications executive.

It’s not a particularly rich life, but it’s a good life.

I make enough money to live well, eat well, and travel often. It’s all really I want, and probably the reason why I’m still here, having recently celebrated my 1-year anniversary living in Spain.

Time for a little Spanish Festival…

Holidays and parties are always a favourite during the year. From Christmas to Easter to your own birthday. Today I thought I would tell you a little something about the different festivals and holidays in Spain. Bear in mind that I have not actually participated in all of these festivals and celebrations but I have done my research! For those of my readers living in New Zealand you may notice that we don’t really have many festivals and celebrations that happen in comparison to Spain. So try not to be too overwhelmed by the sheer amazingness of all this small portion of festivals, holidays and celebrations that go on in Spain.

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(Now I am not going to go in your typical alphabetical order because today, the 12th of October, just so happens to be one of a national holiday in Spain. So of course I thought I would mention it first. This celebration was just recently brought to my attention by one of my friends in Spain.)

¡Les presento a ustedes España! (I present to you Spain!)

I hope you have all having a lovely day! For today’s post, the first official post for Spanish Month, I thought I would tell you a little bit about Spain. However, I have been quite busy with all the university work to write out a full post. Instead, what could be better than an infographic to tell you a little bit about Spain? I think this infographic was made in 2012 but all the facts are still pretty relevant today. So go ahead and enjoy reading!

Let me know in the comment what the most interesting or surprising fact was for you!

Besos,

Sara-Elisabet

xoxo

Quick Facts, in case you didn’t already know…

Spain is a part of Western Europe

The main language spoken is Spain is of course Spanish (also known as Castellano)

The capital of Spain is Madrid

Football (known to kiwis as soccer) is the most popular sport in Spain

I realised today that I never posted pictures from my Hanmer Springs Girls Weekend, so here a a few pictures. I had an amazing and rejuvenating weekend with my friends and we managed to do the whole no technology. It really was a great way to start off my study break. We did al sorts of fun and weird things like going to the pools, our own yoga class, boards games and charades, walks around the township, a little bit of shopping and we even managed to squeeze in a nice we walk up Conical Hill. (Well we got about halfway) Hanmer Springs is a wonderful place to go for a Girls weekend Getaway and we had a brilliant time in each others company.

Ice cream pit stop at the dairy in Culverden

I chose a rather interesting combo. Rum and raisin dipped in chocolate

Splayed out on the floor after our yoga session

The awesome braid that Georgia did on Hannah

Getting creative with our shadow poses. Can you see what word we spelled out?

Group selfie on our way to the pools

Beautiful views from the golf course

Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs

Loving the spring blossoms

Look at all that amazing fudge from Not Just Books in Hanmer Springs

The few goodies from Not Just books (Mint Chocolate, Bayleys and Creme Brulee fudge) paired with some Apple Bon Bons from The Lolly Pot

Doing special faces with our face mask on for our pamper night

Indian for lunch courtesy of my (great) cooking

Walk selfie

The rest of my study break wasn’t too uneventful. I had a wonderful… [Read more…]

I do realise that I have missed my last two post days so I try to make up for it. For the last two weeks I have been on holiday back in Auckland visiting all my friends who I have missed a ton. Now I don’t know about you but the one bane of my travels is packing my bags. I always, always, ALWAYS have either way too many clothes or nowhere near enough. I tend to forget that I can do washing, or to check what the weather is going to be like where I am going and that I will most definitely manage to gain quite a few new items of clothing. So to help myself and all of you out there who have the same problem as me I have made 2 lists with tips: What to pack for a carry-on luggage trip and What to pack with checked in luggage and carry-on.

What to pack for a carry-on luggage trip

So to start us off, due to the fact that you wont have much room in your carry on luggage this list is based on clothes for a trip ranging 2-4 (up to 6) nights. As you are normally allowed one main carry on which you put in the lockers up above your seats and one smaller item, below your seat you can manage to take all your essentials.